State v. Lane

2024 ND 134

• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court
• Decided: July 5, 2024
• Docket: No. 20230401
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA

2024 ND 134

State of North Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Eldrey Marchone Lane, Defendant and Appellant

No. 20230401

Appeal from the District Court of Grand Forks County, Northeast Central Judicial District, the Honorable M. Jason McCarthy, Judge.

AFFIRMED.

Per Curiam.

Andrew C. Eyre, Assistant State’s Attorney, Grand Forks, ND, for plaintiff and appellee; submitted on brief.

Sarah M. Kyte, Grand Forks, ND, for defendant and appellant; submitted on brief. State v. Lane No. 20230401

[¶1] Eldrey Lane appeals from a criminal judgment entered after a jury found Lane guilty of aggravated assault. On appeal, Lane argues insufficient evidence was presented to find him guilty of aggravated assault.

[¶2] Lane did not move for a judgment of acquittal under N.D.R.Crim.P. 29; therefore, Lane failed to preserve the issue of sufficiency of the evidence for appeal. See State v. Pederson, 2024 ND 79, ¶ 17, 6 N.W.3d 619 (a defendant in a criminal jury trial must move for a judgment of acquittal under N.D.R.Crim.P. 29 to preserve the issue of sufficiency of the evidence for appeal).

[¶3] “An exception to the requirement of a motion for judgment of acquittal is if the trial court committed obvious error.” Pederson, 2024 ND 79, ¶ 18 (cleaned up). Lane did not argue in his brief on appeal that the district court committed obvious error. Therefore, we decline to address the issue of sufficiency of the evidence under obvious error. See State v. Reller, 2024 ND 105, ¶ 2, 7 N.W.3d 252 (“This Court ‘need not exercise our discretion to notice obvious error in an appeal when the defendant does not raise the issue of obvious error . . . .’” (quoting State v. Rourke, 2017 ND 102, ¶ 8, 893 N.W.2d 176)). We summarily affirm under N.D.R.App.P. 35.1(a)(7).

[¶4] Jon J. Jensen, C.J. Daniel J. Crothers Lisa Fair McEvers Jerod E. Tufte Douglas A. Bahr